World Leaders Who Clashed With Trump Welcome Republican Midterm Losses, With Caution

World leaders who have clashed with President Donald Trump welcomed the Republican Party's heavy losses in the U.S. midterm elections on Wednesday, saying they hoped for a less combative American foreign policy. Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's voting, with the shift in congressional power due in January. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that Americans had voted against hate, sexism, climate denial and elite privilege, and predicted the same would happen in Spain, which holds an election on Nov. 29. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Americans had had enough of MAGA and polarization. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham hoped the result would focus minds on ending the Iran war, which has pushed up fuel prices. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, days after the U.S. ended South Africa's duty-free market access, predicted a new era in world relations.

Left-leaning HuffPost, running the AP report, leads with relief tempered by expectations that the Iran conflict, tariffs and weak support for Ukraine and European allies may not change. It places the result in a wider run of liberal comebacks after right-wing populist defeats in Hungary, Brazil and Serbia, and quotes Sánchez, Eide and Burnham. Right-leaning Fox News frames the story as "bold claims" from Trump's foreign critics. It leads with the Democratic sweep, quotes Sánchez, and adds his criticism of U.S. and Israeli action against Iran and his NATO spending disputes with Trump. Breitbart's headline is plainer, but it quotes Sánchez at length, including his jab at rivals Feijóo and Abascal, and gives Ramaphosa's comments. Both sides report the same Sánchez statement; the difference is that the left stresses caution and a global trend, while the right stresses the leaders' record of conflict with Trump. France 24's video report stresses European hopes for a reset.